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Project Papillon raises awareness of pregnancy loss |15 May 2023

Project Papillon raises awareness of pregnancy loss

The Ladies Circle Seychelles, under the theme ‘Never Forgotten’, organised a march on Saturday to raise awareness of pregnancy loss.

The march, which formed part of the association’s ‘Project Papillon’, started at the National Library and ended at the Stad Popiler car park whereby leaflets were distributed to help raise awareness on the issue.

As part of Project Papillon, there is also a discussion to bring forward a miscarriage bill in the hope of improving sensibility on pregnancy loss.

The President of Ladies Circle Seychelles, Nichola Abrams, shared that a few members of the Ladies Circle have gone through miscarriages and through each story that has come back, it has been established that there was not adequate time to grieve and heal.

“Once we started doing our research, we realised that we do not have a law in place that could actually allow individuals grieving time,” she stated.

She acknowledges the fact that this is decided upon by doctors whereby they take into account how far along in the term the woman is. “We believe that there needs to be fixed periods so if you are below 21 weeks, there could be a specific period where you get time off, or it could get staggered, meaning how far along you are in the pregnancy, you can get allocated more time.”

Ms Abrams further went on to comment on the fact that there are a lot of things in play regarding mental health, but she questions how many of them are actually “zoned down” to specifically cater to these scenarios.

“It becomes a one on one with the employees to decide whether they need that time or not.”

She cited an example of someone who lost a baby and was only given a week off to grieve. “Remember, this somebody who has planned the rest of their life already, at six months she already bought clothes and prepared rooms,” she explained. “When you look at it on an emotional level, that plays a huge role and the impact in trauma is massive.”

She made it clear that the idea is not to force the lawmaker’s hand, but more about reminding the community that this is needed not just for the current generation but for the future generations.

Currently, the circle has requested a meeting with the Ministry of Health, but is yet to get to that schedule.  

The circle also plans to visit the Ministry of Family Affairs. “We also want to get the lady caucuses involved, because this concerns everybody. This concerns men and women. The impact is more severe on women but it also impacts a man who may get married in the future and start to plan for a family.”

Ms Abrams went on to state that there is a questionnaire out to the general public where they can answer targeted questions to get data on how they feel about this and what they feel are the most important aspects.

“We do not have the infrastructure to support these claims but we plan to put a structure and a foundation in place.”

Ms Abrams commented on the fact that pregnancy loss at times seems to be a taboo subject. “There are several conversations which people are not too keen on having. Remember this comes with a lot of emotional attachment and trauma.”

She stated that this is the most innate and basic foundation that is in play and this is the reason why ‘Project Papillon’ is the national project of the Ladies Circle.

 She cited the fact that African countries around Seychelles, such as Mauritius, Reunion and Madagascar, already have a miscarriage bereavement leave law and Seychelles is behind.

The circle is also collaborating with another foundation called ‘Our Baby Angel Foundation’ whose mandate is for people who have gone through pregnancy loss.

Alex Volcère, co-chairman of ‘Our Baby Angel Foundation’ stated that they are in support of the march and the Ladies Circle. “Our mandate is to cater for people who have lost their babies irrespective of circumstances,” he stated.

The foundation is also planning to be engaged in the activities that the Circle wants to push forward.

 

Text & photos by Sunny Esparon

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